12 h. ago Trump’s ‘exciting announcement’ related to the Pentagon, White House says – US politics live

It’s still unclear what the announcement will be, but White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt says it’s related to the department of defenseDonald Trump’s “exciting announcement” expected at 2pm ET will be “related to the Department of Defense”, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.Representatives Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna plan to hold a news conference tomorrow with survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse as the political fallout from the saga continues to engage Congress on several fronts. Continue reading...

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3 d. ago Coventry council to use Palantir AI in social work, Send and children’s services

Exclusive: Workers say £500k contract with US tech firm which supplies Israeli forces raises ‘serious ethical questions’Public sector workers have voiced “deep concern” after Coventry city council signed a £500,000-a-year artificial intelligence contract with the US data technology company Palantir.The deal is the first of its kind between a UK local authority and the Denver-based company, which supplies technology to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and to help Donald Trump’s mass deportation efforts. Continue reading...

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4 d. ago Judges, defense lawyers and grand jurors poke holes in cases from Trump's DC federal intervention

A grand jury refused to indict a man who was captured on video hurling a sandwich at a federal agent

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6 d. ago Trump looks to buy stakes in military corps raising concerns about private contractors and war conflicts

Howard Lutnick says ‘monstrous discussion’ underway at the Pentagon

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8 d. ago Trump says he wants ‘Department of War’ instead of defense department – US politics live

US president floats idea several times on Monday; Trump threatens again to send troops to Democratic-run cities amid misleading claim on crime in ‘red cities’National guard start carrying firearms in DC as Trump says Chicago may be nextThe justice department is alleging in a new court filing that three Smartmatic executives who were indicted last year on bribery and money-laundering charges transferred money from a 2018 voting machine contract with Los Angeles county into slush funds that were originally set up to pay bribes to election officials in Venezuela and the Philippines between 2012 and 2016 to obtain and retain lucrative election contracts.Prosecutors say one of the executives transferred an undisclosed amount from the $282m LA county contract into the slush funds in 2019 but did not say if anyone actually received bribes from the county’s money at that point. Continue reading...

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8 d. ago Trump says he and Secretary Hegseth want to take ‘Department of Defense’ back 80 years

The Department of Defense was created in 1949 by combining the Army, Navy and Air Force departments

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1 week ago Pentagon has blocked Ukraine from striking deep inside Russia – report

Wall Street Journal says move is part of Trump administration’s effort to get Putin into peace talksUS defense officials have blocked Ukraine from using US-supplied long-range missiles to strike targets inside Russia since late spring as part of a Trump administration effort to get Vladimir Putin to engage in peace talks , according to a report on Saturday.The Wall Street Journal reports that the Pentagon has blocked Ukraine from using US-made Army Tactical Missile Systems, or Atacms. Continue reading...

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1 week ago Maxwell transcripts bring some respite for Trump, but fail to quell Maga uproar

Hundreds of transcript pages unlikely to pacify those who want to know more of president’s association with EpsteinFor weeks, Donald Trump has been on the defensive over his handling of the Jeffrey Epstein investigative files and the extent of his own personal links to the late sex trafficker.While Trump had promised to release files related to Epstein, his justice department announced in July there would be no more disclosures, prompting uproar among conspiracy-minded Maga adherents and many other of his supporters. Continue reading...

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1 week ago Hegseth fires Pentagon leader whose agency determined Iran strikes were less effective than Trump claimed

The Defense Intelligence Agency previously found Iran’s nuclear program had not been ‘fully obliterated’ as Trump had touted

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1 week ago Hegseth fires general whose agency's intel assessment of damage from Iran strikes angered Trump

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has fired a general whose agency’s initial intelligence assessment of damage to Iran nuclear sites from U.S. strikes angered President Donald Trump, according to two people familiar with the decision

Events

1 week ago Canada finally faces a basic question: how do we defend ourselves? | Stephen Marche

For centuries, Canada hasn’t needed to prioritize its military. But the US transformation calls for a Finland-style approachThe second Trump administration has been worse than Canada’s worst nightmare. The largest military force in the history of the world, across a largely undefended border, is suddenly under the command of a president who has called for our annexation. Canada could not be less prepared. The possibility of American aggression has been so remote, for so long, that the idea has not been seriously considered in living memory. Donald Trump has focused on economic rather than military pressure, but the new tone in Washington is finally forcing Canada to ask itself the most basic question: how do we defend ourselves?For most other countries in the world, self-defence is the key to national identity. Canada’s immense good fortune has been that we haven’t really needed a strong military to build our country. In the war of 1812, we were British, and the British kept us aliv...

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1 week ago JD Vance booed during hamburger handout to national guard troops in DC

US vice-president, at Washington’s Union Station with Stephen Miller and Pete Hegseth, defends use of troops in area with less crimeJD Vance was booed and heckled with chants of “Free DC!” during a photo op with national guard troops at Union Station in Washington on Wednesday afternoon.Handing out burgers to troops deployed last week by Donald Trump, at the station’s Shake Shack alongside the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, and White House deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, Vance told soldiers “we appreciate everything you’re doing” and asserted: “We brought some law and order back.” Meanwhile, a crowd of demonstrators protested outside. Continue reading...

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1 week ago Texas Republicans to approve new gerrymandered map; Vance and Hegseth booed at DC station – live

State house to hold vote on map; US vice-president, defense secretary and Trump aide Stephen Miller booed at photo op with police in Washington DCThe White House launched an official TikTok account on Tuesday, as Donald Trump continues to permit the Chinese-owned platform to operate in the US despite a law requiring its sale.“America we are BACK! What’s up TikTok?” read a caption on the account’s first post, a 27-second clip, on the popular video-sharing app. Continue reading...

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2 w. ago Trump defense official led thinktank that spread lies about Tren de Aragua

Under Joseph Humire, the thinktank tracked alleged crimes by the Venezuelan gang in the US. A non-profit found multiple false entriesA senior official appointed to the defense department led a thinktank that promoted fake news about the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang, according to InSight Crime, a non-profit analyzing organized crime.Joseph Humire was appointed this summer to be the head of policy focusing on the western hemisphere within the office of the under secretary of defense for policy. He was previously the executive director of a conservative thinktank focused on global security. Humire’s appointment comes as the Trump administration is ramping up its aggressive strategy against organized crime in Latin America and the Venezuelan government, which it accuses of working with TdA. Continue reading...

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3 w. ago Father of Diddy defense lawyer claims music mogul would support Trump if pardoned

Podcast host and celebrity lawyer Mark Geragos denied that the support would be out of a sense of ‘fealty’

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4 w. ago Attorney for Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs has approached Trump administration for pardon: report

A member of the music mogul’s defense team told CNN that ‘conversations’ had taken place with the Trump administration

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